


And in the wait, we found ourselves

by croissantbleu



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: ADHD!Phil, Alternate Universe, First Meetings, Fluff, French!Dan, M/M, idk guys, this is literally so stupid i started writing it because of an ad lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 18:59:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14315085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/croissantbleu/pseuds/croissantbleu
Summary: Phil is less than glad when he learns that his flight was delayed by a couple hours, but when the cute stranger next to him starts talking to him, he thinks that maybe it wasn't all that bad.





	And in the wait, we found ourselves

Phil hated airports. He hated the stress that came with them, the masses of people everywhere that he seemed unable to get away from, the constant noise that drilled into his head and made him feel like he was drowning in his own mind. In situations like this, where his ADHD starting making itself known again, he normally would try to tune out the sounds by listening to music, but he needed to save his battery. And be ready to hear any announcement that could concern him. God, he really hated airports.

And even more so when his flight was delayed by over six hours because of the bad weather condition. He felt a wave of intense fatigue wash over him when he heard the announcement followed by a rumour of protestations around him, and let his head fall back against the seat he’d managed to find about an hour earlier. He just wanted to go home.

“Hey, you okay?”

He opened his eyes and looked to his side, to find two brown eyes looking right into his.

“Sorry, didn't mean to bother you,” the guy said with an embarrassed smile. 

“No, no, it's fine,” Phil replied. “It's just- my flight got delayed by like, six hours and I'm not really looking forward to waiting for it.”

“Ah, I get that, mine has been too. Bad weather, huh? Lucky us,” he chuckled. “I'm Dan, by the way.”

He had an accent that Phil couldn't quite place, that made him pronounce words in a strange way. It was quite endearing, though.

“Yeah, I guess we're going to be stuck here for a while. And I'm Phil. Nice to meet you,” he smiled. 

“You too,” Dan brightly smiled back. “Hey, um, would you do me a favour? I need to tell people I'll be late, but I can't use data here. Too expensive to use overseas,” he chuckled. “Could I maybe use your phone? It'll only take a minute, I promise.”

“Oh! Yes, sure. So, not from London huh?” Phil asked, as he took his phone out of his pocket

“Oh no, not at all. Thank you,” Dan smiled when he took Phil's phone in hand. “I'm French, actually. I live just next to Paris. Didn't my accent give it away?” he added with a laugh.

He had a nice laugh, Phil thought. Loud and full of life.

“I noticed you had an accent, but I couldn't place it. Your English is really good,” he point out, impressed.

Dan quickly looked up at him, with a small embarrassed smile.

“Well, thank you. I try. And thank you for the phone!” he added, handing it back to Phil. “Lucie would have been furious if I hadn't warned her.”

Probably his girlfriend, Phil thought. Lucie was a pretty name. 

“No problem,” he smiled. “I get it.”

“I'm going to get a coffee,” Dan stood up. “Can I bring you something? To thank you for the phone.”

“Oh that's okay, you don't have to-”

“Please,” Dan said. “I would've been in trouble if you hadn't lent me your phone, I owe you one. And, we're going to be here a while. Coffee will probably be more than welcome.”

“Okay,” Phil ended up caving in. He really could do with some caffeine right now, and he was lucky that his ADHD didn't prevent him from getting it. “I take it black, then, please.”

“Alright!” Dan smiled again. “I'll be back soon, hopefully you won't have forgotten about me already,” he added with a laugh.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere for the next few hours, so except if you intend to get that coffee on the other side of town and get lost on the way, you should still find me here,” Phil replied.

“I’ll try not to get lost then,” Dan said as he walked away.

Phil smiled to himself and put his headphones on. Maybe the wait wasn’t going to be that awful, after all.

*

Dan was back in his seat after a few moments, but it was hard to keep track of time when people were constantly walking around and the music in Phil’s headphones was barely enough to cover all the voices and noises everywhere, and he was starting to feel a headache coming up. He smiled as he took the coffee Dan was handing him.

“Thanks. Glad to see you didn't get lost.”

Dan chuckled. “I'll be honest, it wasn't an easy trip. Whoever designed airports like this, they did a terrible job at it, like, who could think people wouldn't get lost?”

“It was probably intentional,” Phil said after talking a sip of his coffee. “I'm sure it was all a masterplan elaborated by an evil genius to make us lose as much time as possible. It's like we enter a whole new timeline whenever we enter an airport.”

Dan laughed, apparently a little too loud for the man sat behind him because he sent them an angry glare and Dan grimaced. The room they were in was quite noisy anyway, and Phil’s headache was making a reappearance.

“Hey, sorry but I think I have to go. It's just- It's too loud here, I feel like it's getting into my brain," Phil said with an apologetic smile, standing up.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Uh, I don't think there's anyone near the giant windows over there - not sure there are any seats either actually but, hey, at least it'd be quieter."

Phil's smile grew more genuine. “Thanks, I'll go look over there. You know,” he added before he could even think about it, “you can come too, if you want? I bet even you would appreciate some quiet.”

Dan's face broke into a large grin and Phil just noticed the two dimples adorning his cheeks. Cute. He stood up again, putting his bag on his shoulder and nearly knocking his coffee out of his hand in the process.

“Let's go, then! I admit that some calm would be nice.”

They walked together for a bit, before they found a corner distant enough from the more agitated areas that Phil didn't feel like his head was going to explode.

“Sorry,” Phil smiled as he sat on the carpet, back resting against the wall. “Sensory overload tends to be stronger than me.”

“Nah,” Dan said, joining him on the ground. “I disagree. You just know how to deal with it so it doesn't keep kicking your ass and, if you ask me, that makes  _ you _ stronger,” he added with another grin.

Phil chuckled and they continued talking for a while. It was hard to estimate how fast time passed in this odd atmosphere where Phil almost felt like he'd crossed into another dimension, where all the rules were different. Not that he was complaining. He quite liked those new rules.

“You know what I like about English?” Dan said, sliding down the wall a little. “You guys are really lucky, you don't have to deal with this- this “formal you” bullshit, like in French for example. Do you have any idea of how stressful it is? Safest bet is to avoid saying anything that could indicate which “you” you're using when talking to someone you don't really know. Or, even better: just don't talk to anyone, ever. That solves the problem quite effectively.”

Phil couldn't stop the laughter bubbling in his chest from filling the air.

“So, what is a young French guy like you doing in London?” he asked.

“I came to see old friends,” Dan said. “Well, more like my two exes. Who got engaged. To each other.”

Phil raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like a fun weekend.”

Dan chuckled. “I'm making it sound a lot worse than it was, it's been a nice time. Besides, Tom and Marine have been dating for years, it hasn't been weird for ages now. And engagement parties are always a good place to go when you’re single,” he added with a smirk before bursting out in laughter. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding, that’s not why I went at all.”

So he was single, huh? He wondered if it would be indiscreet to ask who Lucie was, and decided it wasn't a good idea.

"What about you?" Dan asked, tilting his head to the side. "What are you doing in this lovely airport? Going out to explore the world?"

Phil smiled. "I wish! I'm going to join my parents for a week in holidays, they're staying in Florida. It's... kind of a family tradition, and it's nice to be able to take a break from studying for a bit. I mean, not that I'm bringing some work over there anyway," he said, pointing to the briefcase he was carrying with him. 

"Oh? What are you studying?" Dan asked. "I mean, if I can ask."

"No problem at all! I'm a history major, I'm preparing my PhD on Antique Rome."

"Ohh, okay! Well, that briefcase sure looks heavy, I hope you're not going to break your back with that."

Phil laughed. "I mean, you have to know what you're talking about if you're going to teach it to other people! Maybe I did bring a little too much material but I'm more comfortable working with handwritten notes anyway. Even if that might cause me back problems in the very near future."

Dan laughed again. Phil liked his laugh, he thought, it was warm and full of life, and maybe it was a weird thing to say (okay, it definitely was a weird thing to say) but it kind of made him feel safe. Like it belonged to a friend he'd known for years, rather than the stranger he'd met roughly four hours ago. Even if said stranger was really cute.

They fell into a comfortable silence for a while, only broken by the faint sounds of children's laughter in the distance. Maybe they were both starting to get tired, maybe waiting for a plane for six hours didn't make for the best mood. 

"Hey," Dan said about a few moments, turning his head to look at Phil. "Do you believe in coincidences?"

"Well, sure," Phil shrugged. "Up to a point, I guess. Too many coincidences means they aren't coincidences, you know?"

"Yeah," Dan nodded. “I guess my question should’ve been more like, do you believe in destiny? Or fate, or-or whatever you want to call it.”

“Getting deep, eh?” Phil teased, before resting his head against the wall and taking a few seconds to think about it. “But yes, I think I do. Like I said, too many coincidences means they aren’t really coincidences, and maybe… I just think it’s nice to interpret them as some kind of “signal” from the universe rather than just… a statistical anomaly, I guess. I know, it’s stupid,” he added with a grimace, letting his head fall to the side to glance at Dan.

Dan, who was looking at him with a strange intensity, as if he was trying to understand something particularly challenging, before a soft smile grew on his lips.

“No, it’s not stupid. It’s sweet.”

“Oh, shut up,” Phil laughed, letting his head roll on the other side.

“It is!” Dan insisted, and Phil could hear the smile in his voice even without looking at him.

“Why do you think we met today then, Mister Rationality?” Phil asked.

“Luck,” Dan simply said.

“See? That's boring!” Phil looked at him again and saw the corner of his mouth twitch. “You can't just think that everything that happens is purely cause by chance, that's… sad. And boring.” 

“It's not boring at all,” Dan replied. “If you think of the probabilities, it's almost magical. Except it's not. It's just random chance. Look, do you know what were the odds that  _ you _ would be born? Practically zero. Same goes for me. Yet here we are: two breathing, living human beings. Like two miracles. And then, imagine the odds that we both ended up in this particular airport, on this particular day. And that, out of all the people who are here right now, I sat next to you, and not a 53 years old man named Greg. It's basically nothing. And yet, look at us,” he smiled, gesturing to the both of them sat on the floor together. “That's far from boring or sad to me.”

Phil thought about it in silence for a while.

“You know what? You’re right. A lot less sad than how I saw it. You win this round.”

Dan chuckled and seemed about to say something before he was interrupted by an announcement coming through the speakers, indicating that boarding for the next flight to Paris was about to begin. His eyes didn’t leave Phil’s until the announcement was over.

“Well,” he ended up saying. “Looks like the fun ends here for me. Time for a nap above the clouds.”

Phil smiled. “Lucky you. I’ll miss your smart comments during the flight. You have someone to pick you up in Paris, right?”

“Yeah, my friend Lucie, the one I texted with your phone. Thanks again for that, by the way. Would you mind if I borrowed it for a second, again? Just to let her know the plane will leave soon,” he explained with an embarrassed grimace.

“No, no, go ahead,” Phil handed him the phone.

Not his girlfriend, then. He turned around and started gathering his belonging. It shouldn’t take much longer before he could board his plane as well, and it’d probably be good to go back to the main hall.

“There you go,” Dan said after a few seconds, a smirk playing on his lips, handing the phone back to Phil. “Thanks again. Alright, I should get going,” he added, standing up.

Phil got up as well. “Yeah. It was nice talking to you,” he said, unsure of how to say goodbye.

Dan picked up his bag from the floor and put it on his shoulder.  “Have a safe flight to Florida,” he said, before his smile grew bigger and he took a step forward, quickly placing a kiss on Phil’s cheek, so light that he almost thought he imagined it.  “Talk to you soon, hopefully,” he added before turning around, a hint of pink tinting his cheeks.

Phil looked at him walking away for a few seconds before he looked down at the phone in his hand. It was unlocked, the screen displaying a new note from the notepad.

“ _ No matter if it’s fate or the beauty of odds and coincidences, it’d be a shame to let the universe separate us after bringing us together in the pain of waiting for a plane, right? xx”  _ followed by what Phil assumed was Dan’s twitter handle.

He smiled and put the phone back in his pocket.

Yeah, it really would’ve been a shame.


End file.
